Blanket with Frustum Shaped Foot Pocket

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises a blanket having a frustum shaped foot pocket and method of making said blanket and further means for securing the upper left corner of the blanket to the upper right corner and around a user&#39;s neck for maintaining secure attachment of the blanket to a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING

None

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a blanket and more particularly a blanket thatpromotes foot warmth and maintains position on a user's body and amethod for forming said blanket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blankets in a general have a flat planar shape have been used for manyyears. However, one downfall of commonly used blankets is that theycannot prevent a person's legs and feet from exiting from the blanket'sperimeter. There are many blankets on the market, but very few if anyblankets that employ a foot pocket formed into the blanket. While thereare blankets with foot pockets in the art, these foot pockets do notpromote a central location placement for the feet such that when aperson inserts their feet they are directed to one area of the pocketsuch that their feet are maintained in relative close proximity.

Blankets in the art that have foot pockets are generally wide in natureand span the width of the blanket. These designs do not promote keepinga person's feet close to each other. Having a person's feet and legs inclose proximity to each other aids in maintaining warmth in the pocketand also avoids large spans of fabric on a foot pocket from binding aperson's feet and causing difficulty for a user to remove their feetfrom the blanket. Relatedly, foot pockets that span the width of theblanket can cause additional binding on the foot pocket fabric if aperson's feet are spaced wide apart in the foot pocket but they want tobring them closer together. No such blanket in the art enables aperson's calves, legs and feet to maintain contact with the blanket inclose proximity by surrounding and nestling a person's feet and legs.Further, many methods of making blankets require that multiple pieces ofmaterial be used to form a blanket. What is needed in the art is ablanket that promotes central foot placement in a foot pocket and iseasy to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Specific advantages and features of the present invention will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and the description of severalillustrative embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention is a blanket and a method for forming a blanketout of a single piece of fabric having a frustum shaped foot pocket. Theblanket has a top edge, a left edge, a right edge, a diagonal rightedge, a diagonal left edge and a bottom edge. The blanket has aninterior side and an exterior side. Further, the blanket has means forconnecting the upper right corner to the upper left corner toencapsulate a person with the blanket and to simultaneously allow auser's arms to reside interior in the blanket or to be deployed exteriorto the blanket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the inner side of the blanket.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blanket and frustoconical shape ofthe foot pocket.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a person wearing the blanket.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a person wearing the blanket.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a single piece of rectangular fabric.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the blanket folder lengthwise.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the blanket spread out with one half of thebottom edge sewn to the other bottom edge.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the blanket with a frustoconical footpocket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a blanket 10 having a topedge 12, a left edge 14 parallel with a right edge 16, a left diagonaledge 18, a right diagonal edge 20 and a bottom edge 22. Shown in FIG. 1is a frustoconical shaped foot pocket 24. Also shown are securing means30 for securing the upper left corner 26 to the upper right corner 28.The securing means 30 in one embodiment would be hook and loop fastenersbut could also be a button and slot, snap button, or a loop and barconnection among other common mechanical connecting means available inthe art.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, use of the blanket 10 by a user allowsthe user at their discretion to attach the upper left corner 26 to theupper right corner 28 around a user's neck such that the blanket 10 isin close communication all the way from their feet to their upper torsoin the neck region. This allows a user to stay warm and to also pulltheir arms under the blanket or remove their arms from the blanket 10such that they can freely engage in movements of the hands and armswithout fear of the blanket 10 becoming displaced from their upper torsoand neck area. This design and configuration allows the blanket 10 tohave the same benefits as sleeves but without actually having to employsleeves on the blanket 10. In addition, a further advantage of thedesign allows a user to stand up with the blanket 10 still engagedaround their neck, remove their feet from the foot pocket 24 and movearound without taking the blanket 10 off of their person. For example, auser watching television wishing to get something to drink can stand upand walk to the kitchen to retrieve a drink without taking the blanket10 off. The blanket can be made of a number of different fabric choicesincluding cotton, polyester, silk and other materials and blends of saidmaterials.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-8, there is shown a sequence and method bywhich the present blanket 10 is formed. In one embodiment, a rectangularpiece of fabric is laid flat as shown in FIG. 5 and then folded in halfin a lengthwise fashion as shown in FIG. 6. A hem is then sewn such asto join the bottom edge 22 of one side of the blanket 10 to the otherbottom edge 22 such that the blanket on its bottom edge 22 is joinedtogether. FIG. 7 shows the blanket laid out flat spreading the rightedge 16 apart from the left edge 14 such that the fabric has an upperportion rectangular in shape and a lower portion that is triangular inshape whereby the blanket has a left diagonal edge 18 adjacent to theleft edge 14 and a right diagonal edge 20 adjacent to the right edge 16and the resulting triangular shaped point 23 that is formed at thebottom of the blanket 10 when the blanket 10 is spread out. The nextstep is to stitch a hem along the left diagonal edge 18 and the rightdiagonal edge 20 as this provides reinforcement of the frustum shape ofthe foot pocket 24. Further a hem 25 is sewn horizontally across thetriangular shaped bottom portion of the blanket 10. The hem's 25location in one embodiment is placed such that 90 percent of the depthof the foot pocket 24 is located above said hem 25. There is then made ahorizontal cut on the triangular shaped point 23 below the hem 25 asshown in FIG. 8 such that a blunt frustum shaped or frustoconical footpocket is formed. Finally, the foot pocket 24 and blanket 10 is reversedand/or turned inside out such that the hems and their seams are out ofview and the edges appear uniform and an attractive blanket 10 ispresented. In one embodiment, the rectangular piece of fabric has awidth that is 70 percent of the length of the fabric. The foot pocket 24while shown appears flat is actually a three dimensional cavity thatallows for insertion of a user's feet such that they nest in closetogether towards the bottom of the foot pocket 24 and such placement ispromoted by the left diagonal edge 18 and the right diagonal edge 20.

The principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing specification. Theembodiments disclosed herein should be interpreted as illustrating thepresent invention and not as restricting it. The foregoing disclosure isnot intended to limit the range of equivalent structure available to aperson of ordinary skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand therange of equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated.Numerous variations and changes can be made to the foregoingillustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe present invention.

NUMBERED ELEMENTS

-   10 blanket-   12 Top edge-   14 Left edge-   16 Right edge-   18 Left diagonal edge-   20 Right diagonal edge-   22 bottom edge-   23 point-   24 Foot pocket-   25 horizontal hem-   26 Upper left corner-   28 Upper right corner-   30 Means for securing upper left corner to upper right corner

What is claimed is:
 1. A blanket, comprising; a fabric rectangular inshape having a top edge, a left edge parallel with a right edge, a rightdiagonal edge, a left diagonal edge and a bottom edge; a frustoconicalshaped foot pocket in the bottom region of the blanket; and means forsecuring an upper right corner of the blanket with an upper left cornerof the blanket located on interior side of the blanket.
 2. The blanketof claim 1 wherein the where the width of said fabric is 70 percent ofthe length of said rectangular fabric.
 3. The blanket of claim 1 whereinthe means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with theupper left corner of the blanket is located on the upper left interiorside of the blanket and the upper right interior side of the blanket. 4.A method for forming a blanket comprising: providing a fabricrectangular in shape whose width is shorter than its length; sewing ahem along the fabric left edge, top edge and right edge; folding saidfabric lengthwise by taking said right edge and aligning it with saidleft edge where the width of said fabric has been reduced by 50 percentand the right half of the fabric is resting upon the left half of thefabric; sewing a hem along the bottom edge such that the right half andleft half of the fabric are joined on their bottom edge; spreading theright edge apart from the left edge such that the fabric has an upperportion rectangular in shape and a lower portion that is triangular inshape whereby the blanket has a left diagonal edge adjacent to the leftedge and a right diagonal edge adjacent to the right edge; sewing ahorizontal hem on the triangular lower portion a distance upward fromthe lower point of the triangular lower portion; making a horizontal cutdirectly below and parallel to the horizontal hem; reversing therectangular upper portion and triangular lower portion of the fabricsuch that a blanket with a frustoconical shaped foot pocket is revealed;and providing means for securing an upper right corner with the upperleft corner of the blanket around a person's upper torso and neck area.5. The method of claim 4 wherein the width of the fabric is 70 percentof the length of said fabric.
 6. The method claim of claim 4 wherein themeans for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with the upperleft corner of the blanket is located on the upper left interior side ofthe blanket and the upper right interior side of the blanket.
 7. Amethod for using a blanket, comprising; providing a blanket with afrustoconical shaped foot pocket on its bottom end and having means forsecuring an upper right corner of the blanket to an upper left corner ofthe blanket located on the interior upper right corner and upper leftcorner of the blanket; inserting a user's legs and feet into the footpocket such that they reside at the bottom of the foot pocket; securingthe blanket upper right corner to the upper left corner wherein a topedge of the blanket is in close proximity to a user's neck and shouldersand the upper left corner and upper right corner are attached using saidmeans for securing behind a user's neck and shoulders such that theblanket shrouds the upper body; and inserting a user's arms underneaththe blanket or deploying a user's arms outside of the blanket whilestill maintaining secure blanket position on a user's body.